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Electric cars get a jump start from the rent mob

Frustrated by sluggish sales of battery-powered vehicles, their makers are trying to seduce us away from fossil fuel with a new tactic

Dominic Tobin

August 21 2011, 1:01am, The Sunday Times

Peugeot are pioneering a hire out scheme for battery-powered vehicles (Dwayne Senior)

It was supposed to be a revolution: 2011 was heralded as the year when the electric car would finally come of age. A new raft of mainstream models, coupled with generous government grants, would mean that battery power would at last become a realistic alternative to conventional fuels.

However, as the end of the summer approaches, that vision appears to have stalled. In the first half of the year only 680 motorists took advantage of the incentive to buy an electric vehicle, and the majority of those buyers bought their cars at the start of the year. In the past few months buyers have all but dried up.

The figures have forced some car makers to rethink their tactics. And the answer is to let…

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